Google's AdID, an anonymous identifier for advertising, could replace the aging cookie

You know the drill: accept the cookie, delete the cookie, empty the cookie bin, and so on. Mostly, it's an exercise used when attempting to get your mum's PC to run a wee bit faster, but if you think about it, the cookie is one of the most archaic pieces of the world wide web that's still in use today. Naturally, Google is swooping in in a bid to change the status quo, according to a new report from USA Today.

Essentially, the search giant is building an "anonymous identifier for advertising, or AdID, that would replace third-party cookies as the way advertisers track people's internet browsing activity for marketing purposes." Perhaps astoundingly, it sounds as if the project could benefit both consumers (by shielding true identities) and advertisers at the same time. Of course, pundits are concerned about the global leader in online advertising controlling the technology that tracks movements on the web, but to us, it sounds as if end users will get far more power over who sees what when compared to today's cookies.

Your browser can be accurately fingerprinted already with the information it exposes + the list of installed fonts that can be gathered through the flash plugin + your IP, so erasing your cookies would only hide you from lazy trackers anyway.

So yes, the point is tracking you more effectively, but it's not like it can't be done already. AdID just simplifies things for the trackers as they wouldn't have to bother with things like updating you fingerprint when your dynamic IP changes.

The problem is that advertisers would likely use AdID in addition (rather than as a replacement) to current tracking methods, because otherwise AdID would actually be less intrusive that the current tracking methods being used now.

Your browser can be accurately fingerprinted already with the information it exposes + the list of installed fonts that can be gathered through the flash plugin + your IP, so erasing your cookies would only hide you from lazy trackers anyway.

So yes, the point is tracking you more effectively, but it's not like it can't be done already. AdID just simplifies things for the trackers as they wouldn't have to bother with things like updating you fingerprint when your dynamic IP changes.

The problem is that advertisers would likely use AdID in addition (rather than as a replacement) to current tracking methods, because otherwise AdID would actually be less intrusive that the current tracking methods being used now.

I'm well aware of the amount of information that is leaked by usual browsers, however it takes considerable effort to gather that data (compared to simple cookie tracking). Like the NSA spying, the harder it is, the better it is. AdID will greatly simplify the process.

It's just an improved way of doing what they already do. Stands to reason Neowin users would make more out of this than it really is but it's not a danger to anyone, if anything in fact it will give you greater anonymity than current advert delivery systems.